Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Department of Biostatistics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
J Travel Med. 2021 Jun 1;28(4). doi: 10.1093/jtm/taab055.
In 2019, approximately, 1.4 billion people travelled internationally. Many individuals travel to megacities where air pollution concentrations can vary significantly. Short-term exposure to air pollutants can cause morbidity and mortality related to cardiovascular and respiratory disease, with the literature clearly reporting a strong association between short-term exposure to particulate matter ≤2.5 μm and ozone with adverse health outcomes in resident populations. However, limited research has been conducted on the health impacts of short-term exposure to air pollution in individuals who travel internationally. The objective of this systematic review was to review the evidence for the respiratory and cardiovascular health impacts from exposure to air pollution during international travel to polluted cities in adults aged ≥18 years old.
We searched PubMed, Scopus and EMBASE for studies related to air pollution and the health impacts on international travellers. Of the initially identified 115 articles that fit the search criteria, 6 articles were selected for the final review. All six studies found indications of adverse health impacts of air pollution exposure on international travellers, with most of the changes being reversible upon return to their home country/city. However, none of these studies contained large populations nor investigated vulnerable populations, such as children, elderly or those with pre-existing conditions.
More research is warranted to clearly understand the impacts of air pollution related changes on travellers' health, especially on vulnerable groups who may be at higher risk of adverse impacts during travel to polluted cities.
2019 年，全球约有 14 亿人进行国际旅行。许多人前往大城市，而这些城市的空气污染浓度可能存在显著差异。短期暴露于空气污染物可能导致心血管和呼吸道疾病相关的发病率和死亡率，文献明确报告了短期暴露于≤2.5μm 颗粒物和臭氧与居民人口不良健康结果之间的强烈关联。然而，对于国际旅行者短期暴露于空气污染对健康的影响，相关研究有限。本系统评价的目的是回顾有关≥18 岁成年人在国际旅行至污染城市时暴露于空气污染对呼吸和心血管健康影响的证据。
我们在 PubMed、Scopus 和 EMBASE 中搜索了与空气污染和对国际旅行者健康影响相关的研究。在最初符合搜索标准的 115 篇文章中，有 6 篇文章被选入最终综述。这 6 项研究均表明空气污染暴露对国际旅行者健康有不良影响，大多数变化在返回本国/城市后是可逆的。然而，这些研究中没有一项包含大量人群，也没有研究脆弱人群，如儿童、老年人或有潜在疾病的人群。
需要进行更多的研究，以明确了解空气污染相关变化对旅行者健康的影响，特别是对那些在前往污染城市旅行时可能面临更高不良影响风险的脆弱人群。
